Clarity, trust and intent: signals from Canada’s top marketers
While not all business cycles begin and end with the new year, it’s often a time for reflecting on the year’s past and preparing for the year to come.
To better understand what’s actually changing — and what matters most next — the co-chairs of the CMA B.C. Marketing Forum, Wayne Carrigan and Denise Yan, asked Forum members to share an important lesson they learned during 2025 and to make a prediction for 2026.
Forum members were asked the following two questions:
- What’s one lesson learned in 2025?
- What’s one prediction for 2026?
Their answers reveal a striking alignment around attention, trust, AI discipline, and the growing importance of clarity and authenticity in a fragmented world.
Below, you’ll find their perspectives in their own words — offering a grounded, Canadian lens on where marketing is headed and how leaders can prepare for the year ahead.
Lesson
In 2025, we learned that attention did not disappear; Canadians simply raised the bar for what earns it. People are still engaging deeply with long-form content but only after the opening seconds establish clear relevance, intent and value. The real shift was not in attention spans but in the tolerance for content that feels generic or directionless.
Prediction
Looking to 2026, the brands that will win are the ones that master “fast trust.” They signal meaning clearly from the first moment and follow through with substance that rewards the audience’s time. In a market where choice is endless, sustained attention becomes a reflection of brand clarity and credibility, not content length.
–Denise Yan, Senior Manager, Brand Strategy, RBC
Lesson
Simplicity in consumer marketing can help cut through clutter – the easier someone can understand your message, the likelier they are to recall. Too many companies are forgetting their core objectives, brand ethos and target consumer. My prediction is that brands are going to move towards simpler creative executions – rather than abstract concepts designed for executives and awards programs.
Prediction
More sports teams will be focused on content velocity to drive personalization. AI can play a role in mass producing tailored social assets for different fan segments—transforming how they bring brands into the mix for different consumer groups.
–Avish Sood, Sr. Manager, Partnership Marketing – Canucks Sports & Entertainment, Vancouver Canucks
Lesson
Never underestimate the power of “N of 1.” Sometimes your biggest learnings come from just asking your consumer what they want – even if that’s a mom shopping at Save on Foods.
Prediction
Most businesses will race towards some form of AI integration without really understanding what, why or how. In all reality, they will likely lose to some form of AI agent doing the same thing; it’s “Dwight vs. the computer” in The Office, all over again.
–Garett Senez, CEO, Partner, Quark Baby
Lesson
With everything happening politically and economically, Canadians are paying a lot more attention to where their products and services come from. There’s a noticeable shift toward “made in Canada,” whether it’s the maple leaf labels in our grocery stores or the growing number of pop-up markets and local makers we see in our communities. And it’s not just a feeling. Surveys from 2024 and 2025 show that Canadians are becoming more loyal to Canadian-made goods, with many saying that supporting local businesses feels more important than it did the year before. Even with higher prices, people still feel proud choosing items that are created, crafted or grown here at home. Everything points toward a growing desire to honour the origins of what we buy and support the full cycle of Canadian product and service development.
Prediction
How we use social media is changing in a big way. People are spending less time being chronically online and choosing more analog experiences instead. Social media fatigue has become a common phrase over the past few years, and we are finally seeing the impact. Many Gen Zs are intentionally reducing how much they scroll and are turning toward hands-on, screen-free moments. One of the trends that has taken off is the idea of an “analog bag,” filled with things like word searches, knitting projects, small crafts, fidget spinners and anything that keeps our hands busy and our minds grounded.
–Hope Mikal, CEO/Founder of Unicorn Marketing Co. and host of the Magic Hour Podcast
Lesson
In 2025, Canadians took a more cautious approach to technology. We are hesitant about AI, driven by concerns about job transitions. There’s also a growing focus on social media’s role in political discourse and youth. With most major platforms coming from the U.S., talk of “digital sovereignty” has picked up. People are looking for more control, safety and authenticity.
Prediction
In 2026, discussions around youth social media safety will advance, possibly through the introduction of federal legislation. At the same time, Canada will double down on building its own AI capabilities to strengthen digital independence. Expect tech companies to push hard to reframe AI as helpful and safe—setting up a year defined by collaboration between innovation and responsible development.
–Cameron McFadyen, Vice President, Strategic Growth, Ipsos Limited Partnership
Lesson
As organizations and marketers navigate the multi-layered cares and concerns of our audiences, we need to focus diligently on brand value and ensure the experience matches the promise. In a time of adaptation and fiscal pressures, lean on data to inform and guide a path, innovate and mitigate risk with low barrier pilots, and stay close to sentiment nuance.
Prediction
There is a feeling of greater purpose and calling to our work in a time of eroded trust and geopolitical instability, economic impacts and AI acceleration. Often reflective of zeitgeists, marketing is an expression and catalyst in society, from the stories we tell to how we leverage technology, there is a great opportunity and responsibility. Amidst fragmentation, audiences seek authenticity and connection, sources of confidence during this “hinge moment.” As we adopt emerging technologies, company values and customer sentiment should serve as steady guides, shaping decisions with intention and relevance. Together, these forces position trust as a key focus for the year ahead.
–Denise Gorgosilich, Director, Marketing & Communications, BCIT
Lesson
Marketing only works when it’s tethered to reality. In 2025, AI dramatically increased marketing productivity, compressing work that once took days, into hours. The intent was to create space for more strategic thinking. Instead, speed became an expectation to produce more with less, not a mandate to think better. AI was often treated as a shortcut rather than a capability, leading to more content, more inputs and more noise — frequently at the expense of quality and clarity. Marketing teams, despite being more productive than ever, remain overwhelmed and burnt out.
The marketers who made real progress understand that AI amplifies whatever already exists. When marketing wasn’t grounded in operational reality, with clear ownership, sound processes and thoughtful prioritization, AI simply accelerates the chaos. Those who have succeeded use AI as an amplifier and strategic filter, protecting time for judgment, decision-making and work that actually moved the business forward.
Prediction
In 2026, marketing leaders will face a clear choice. They can continue to use AI to accelerate output with more campaigns, more content and more activity, or they can use it to elevate how marketing shows up in the business. The difference will be intention. One path prioritizes speed and volume. The other prioritizes judgment, alignment and impact.
The marketers who choose the latter will move closer to the business, shaping strategy, influencing operations, and raising the standard for how work gets done. In 2026, the real differentiator won’t be access to AI. It will be the discipline of leaders who decide how it’s used.
–Jennifer Brookman, VP Revenue Operations & Innovation, WCD
Lesson
From a retail perspective in 2025, the rising cost of living prompted a flight to price for many consumers. Product offerings at the lower end of the price range gained consideration as cost-conscious customers sought maximum extension of their budgets. Brands that were able to respond to this reality of belt-tightening while still offering a great customer experience were able to capture market share from competitors that maintained a rigid focus on more premium offerings.
Prediction
The search space will be fascinating to watch in 2026. With continued growth in consumer usage and adoption of AI tools for online search queries, brands that can elevate their findability through credible sources will have a distinct advantage, especially in high-research categories. Re-focusing investment into activities that drive ‘citable sources’ (think earned media/PR, sponsored content, etc.) will help brands gain visibility within AI platforms as consumer search behaviour continues to shift towards AI tools in a big way. Brands that can develop and execute a thoughtful GEO strategy have a big opportunity to win.
–Ryan Paulson, Director of Retail Marketing, Kal Tire
Lesson
Understanding advertising effectiveness has ceased to be a marketing problem and has become an organizational challenge. We need to find new and more inclusive ways to bring organizations along the journey of marketing effectiveness and measurement.
Prediction
Brands that find new ways to bring experiences forward that feel human and locally informed will build stronger consumer relationships. Developing ways to prove real return will be imperative to cement impact.
–Sasha Bricel, Director of Marketing Services, Nature’s Path Foods
Final thoughts
Taken together, these perspectives point to a clear conclusion: 2026 will not reward louder marketing — it will reward better marketing.
The brands and teams that win will be those that earn trust quickly, communicate simply and act with intention. AI will continue to reshape how work gets done, but leadership judgment, values and discipline will determine whether it creates clarity or noise. As consumers balance economic pressure, digital fatigue and a renewed desire for meaning, they are voting with their attention — and their dollars — for brands that feel credible, human and aligned with their lives.
For Canadian marketers, this is both a challenge and an opportunity. Those who ground their strategies in reality, respect their audience’s time, and use technology as a tool rather than a crutch won’t just keep up with change — they’ll help define what trusted, modern marketing looks like in the year ahead.
Learn more about the CMA B.C. Marketing Forum here:
https://thecma.ca/get-involved/thought-leadership-groups/bc-marketing-forum
